Divine Tragedy: Fiennes chooses pope, Stallone chooses evil
Two high-profile foreign premieres reached the Russian box office this week - the dramas "Conclave" and "The Great". The performers of the main roles in them - Rafe Fiennes and Kate Winslet - are already prophesied nominations for the Oscar. Among the domestic novelties variety of genres: viewers are waiting for a sci-fi with Nikita Efremov in the role of a little mad scientist, comedy "Son-in-law", where Yan Tsapnik opposes Dmitry Nagiyev, as well as the drama "Era" - the best film of the festival "New Movement". "Izvestia" - about what to watch in the movies in the coming weekend.
"Conclave" 18+
Directed by: Edward Berger
Starring: Rafe Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Isabella Rossellini.
Political thriller about how the College of Cardinals chose a new pope from the director of the Oscar-winning "On the Western Front Without Change" Edward Berger. According to the plot, after the death of the head of the Catholic Church, the place of the future pontiff is vacant, so the dean of the college Lawrence has to assemble a secret conclave in Rome of those who were with the past pope handshake, and those who vehemently argued with him on any issue. True, Cardinal Lawrence does not even suspect what palace intrigues of the Vatican will be drawn into.
"Conclave" is based on the best-selling novel of the same name by Robert Harris, released in 2016. On the script of the movie worked Peter Strahan, who has already dealt with film adaptations. On his account, rather controversial screen adaptations of "The Sorcerer" and "The Snowman", as well as the detective "Spy, Get Out!". The star cast is headed by Rafe Fiennes, to whom critics are already predicting an Oscar nomination for the role of Cardinal Lawrence.
"The Great One" 18+
Directed by Ellen Curas
Starring: Kate Winslet, Andy Samberg, Alexander Skarsgard, Marion Cotillard, Josh O'Connor.
Photomodel Lee Miller shone on the covers of Vogue, was the muse of Salvador Dalí and Jean Cocteau, married an Egyptian millionaire, and then retrained as a war correspondent and captured the most important moments of the Second World War. Perhaps it is difficult to imagine a more suitable heroine for a biographical movie drama. In "The Great" (original title - Lee) the role of Miller played by Kate Winslet, who is at the peak of her career and also acted as a producer of the movie.
World critics were delighted with the poignant game Oscar winner: her heroine turned out to be "simultaneously annoying, admirable, not like anyone else, but incredibly heroic." "Great" is based on the book by her son and biographer Anthony Penrose "The Life of Lee Miller", who since the time of "Titanic" believed that only such an actress as Kate Winslet, will be able to embody his mother on the screen.
"Era" 18+
Directed by: Veniamin Ilyasov
Starring: Marianne Shultz, Gennady Blinov, Fyodor Lavrov, Jean Daniel
The film by debutant director Veniamin Ilyasov from Kazakhstan is the winner of the first festival "New Movement", which was held this year in Nizhny Novgorod. However, the first viewers saw this film back in 2023 at the festival of topical Russian cinema "Mayak", however, the picture remained without awards. Critics recognized in the feature debut motifs of films by Pedro Almodovar, Sergei Parajanov, and Kira Muratova (the latter, perhaps, because of the actor Jean Daniel).
Era is the name of the protagonist, a middle-aged woman who was actually named after a radio receiver by her parents. After the death of her mother, together with her son Andriusha, who is confined to a wheelchair, Era moves to her house by the Black Sea. There lives Era's eldest daughter Sasha, who is not happy about the relocation of relatives. Era left her to her grandmother's care many years ago. The younger son does not speak, does not leave the confines of the new house and spends his days watching cartoons, while Era is desperately trying to establish a personal life, letting in every man she meets. In this way, the director tries to show "the motley world of people left to themselves, with a heightened instinct for self-preservation, able to get up again and again after a fall and start again each time."
"Replica" 18+
Directed by: Amir Isaev
Starring: Nikita Efremov, Vladislav Tsenev, Sofia Lebedeva
Another feature debut, released this week, in the atypical genre of sci-fi drama. Brothers Anton and David (Nikita Efremov and Vladislav Tsenev) are on the verge of a grand scientific discovery - their unique technology "Replica" can copy a person's consciousness into a neural network. However, the experiments go too far: Anton secretly copies his brother's wife (Sofia Lebedeva), convincing the copy that he is her husband.
"Unbreakable" 18+
Directed by Justin Rutt/Randall Emmett
Starring Sylvester Stallone, Josh Wiggins, Jason Patric, Lanie Stiebing
One of the rare occasions when action star Sylvester Stallone plays the main antagonist in a movie. His character is the leader of a gang of robbers who stole an armored collection truck. The car is driven by James and his son Casey, who is struggling with alcoholism. On one of the routes, father and son find themselves trapped by the thugs, stranded on a bridge. Barricaded inside an impenetrable truck, they must urgently devise an escape plan.
"Unbreakable" had the potential to become a classic action movie, but here clearly feels the lack of budget and a rather questionable script. According to the media, the filming process turned into a real chaos, which affected the final product. There is still a debate about who should be listed in the credits as director - Justin Rutt or Randall Emmett. Members of the crew claim that although Rutt was on the set, it was Emmett who directed the picture.
World critics call the only dignity of the movie the game of Jason Patric. His hero James is the only character whose development is interesting to follow. But the acting talent of Stallone in this movie was wasted. Perhaps a more interesting antagonist artist played in the third part of the franchise "Children of Spies".
"Son-in-law" 16 +
Directed by: Anario Mamedov
Starring: Dmitry Nagiyev, Yan Tsapnik, Irina Pegova.
The main novelty of the domestic box office this week - a new comedy from the creators of "Mother-in-law". In the story, an exemplary husband and father in the performance of Jan Tsapnik all forces trying to destroy the relationship of his 20-year-old daughter Alena. The reason is simple and even quite understandable: her chosen one was the same age as her father and his former best friend. Played by Dmitry Nagiyev. According to the producer of "Son-in-law" Timur Weinstein, the plot of the comedy is partly inspired by the story of his "eternally young" friend.
